Costco Wholesale Corp. has been ordered to pay Tiffany & Co. a minimum of US$19.35 million in damages after using the brand’s name on signage to sell engagement rings.
No words such as ‘set,’ ‘style,’ or ‘setting’ were used to clarify that the rings were not manufactured by Tiffany.
“We brought this case because we felt a responsibility to protect the value of our customers’ purchases and to ensure that Costco’s customers were not misled about their purchases,” says Tiffany & Co. senior vice-president, Leigh Harlan. “It is critically important that the Tiffany name not be used to sell any engagement ring that is not our own.”
Costco’s rings did not display any Tiffany & Co. engraving and were not packaged in the brand’s iconic blue boxes, but were merchandized in-store as ‘Tiffany,’ priced similarly, and placed next to luxury brand name watches.
